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Columbia  (Hntoergttp 

College  of  iPfjpgiciang  anb  burgeon* 
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LETTERS 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


GRAVIORA     MANENT 


NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED   BY  ALEX.   S.  GOULD,   144  NASSAU.STREET. 

1841. 


V 


-r  . , 


LETTERS 


GRAVIORA  MANENT 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS.* 


Public  attention  has  been  long  directed  to  this  institution  in  the 
hope  that  it  would  take  some  rank  among  the  medical  colleges  in  the 
country,  in  some  degree  proportionate  to  the  patronage  which  it  has 
received  :  but  it  seems  that  all  reasonable  expectation  is  doomed  to  be 
disappointed.  Its  history,  although  most  instructive,  has  as  yet  taught 
its  government  nothing  ;  it  drags  on  a  miserable,  sickly  existence, 
without  the  confidence  of  the  public,  or  the  support  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession ;  and  while  every  other  literary  and  scientific  institution  in 
the  State  is  progressively  improving  in  knowledge,  usefulness,  and 
respectability,  this  stands  in  the  same,  or  a  worse  condition,  than  when 
it  was  reorganized  fifteen  years  ago.  With  a  liberal  charter  derived 
from  liberal  and  intelligent  men,  (the  Regents  of  the  University,)  it 
has  been  degraded  by  management  into  a  de  facto  close  corporation, 
and  much  worse  than  such,  because  the  appearance  of  an  election  of 
trustees  is  preserved  by  the  Regents,  while  their  confidence  is  abused, 
and  they  are  made  the  registrars  of  the  will  of  the  President,  who,  upon 

*  The  following  letters  appeared  in  the  month  of  February  last,  in  the  columns  of 
a  daily  newspaper,  which  has  but  a  limited  circulation  among  that  class  of  persons 
which  they  principally  interest ;  the  writer,  therefore,  has  thought  it  expedient  to 
republish  them  in  this  form,  that  they  may  be  more  conveniently  addressed  to  those 
whom  they  concern.  The  statements  which  they  contain  are  facts,  and  the  opinions 
obvious  inferences,  and  they  are  given  to  the  public  in  the  hope  that  they  will  attract 
sufficient  attention  from  the  Regents  of  the  University,  to  induce  them  to  apply  a 
corrective. 


all  occasions  of  vacancies,  recommends  privately  the  successors.  So 
long  has  this  game  been  played,  that  the  board  of  trustees  is  completely 
controlled  by  its  president,  and  however  difficult  it  may  be  to  convene 
a  quorum,  on  ordinary  business,  it  is  far  otherwise  when  his  interest 
requires  that  a  quorum  should  be  formed — then  the  requisite  number  is 
not  only  present,  but  there  is  no  occasion  for  any  deliberation  of  any 
kind  :  his  friends  are  all  sufficiently  informed  to  vote  as  he  wishes,  and 
having  voted,  the  board  is  immediately  adjourned  till  it  shall  please 
the  president  to  convene  them  again.  This  farce  has  been  so  often 
acted,  that  the  medical  public  are  disgusted,  and  have  withdrawn  all 
confidence  from  the  school.  The  government  of  the  institution,  how- 
ever, is  not  its  only  vice  ;  bad  as  this  is,  it  would  still  be  tolerable  if  it 
could  be  redeemed  by  the  genius,  the  intelligence,  the  liberality,  or  the 
integrity  of  its  president;  but  in  all  these  qualities,  if  he  be  not  deficient, 
he  certainly  does  not  abound  :  there  is  nothing  to  spare  :  he  holds  two 
important  situations  without  possessing  the  qualifications  required  for 
either.  As  Professor  of  Physiology,  his  course  of  instruction  is  worth- 
less.* The  title  of  the  course  gives  him  an  apology  for  lecturing  on 
any  and  every  thing  which  he  m^y  think  co-relevant,  and  as  this 
desultory  mode  of  talking  may  be  continued  ad  infinitum^  without  stud;', 
the  great  doctrines  of  the  laws  of  healthy  functions  are  altogether 
forgotten  ;  and  such  is  the  measure  of  his  liberality  of  expenditure  in 
illustrating  his  course  of  lectures,  that  the  price  of  a  rat  or  rabbit,  dog 
or  kitten,  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been  expended  since  he  has  held 
this  distinguished  station  !     The  number  of  matriculated  students  is 

*  Worthless — The  writer  does  not  use  this  term  in  the  spirit  of  mere  vituperation  ; 
there  is  no  word  so  well  suited  to  convey  the  truth  ;  for  although  something  may  be 
taught  which  has  a  positive  value  as  information,  there  is  so  much  more,  which  is 
so  false  in  fact,  and  erroneous  in  reasoning,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  on  the  mind  of  an 
intelligent  hearer,  that  the  wheat  as  compared  with  the  chaff  bears  scarcely  any 
assignable  proportion.  With  the  exception  of  three  or  four  lectures  on  abstract  and 
abstruse  subjects,  of  little  importance  whether  understood  or  not ;  the  whole  course  is 
a  meagre  syllabus  of  exploded  doctrines,  which  have  been  so  long  known  as  to  have 
been  forgotten.  The  four  important  subjects  of  Respiration,  Circulation,  Digestion, 
and  Secretion,  are  disposed  of  as  if  they  were  of  infinitely  less  account  than  the  anec- 
dotes to  which  they  give  occasion  ;  and  the  time  occupied  in  the  serious  discussion 
of  physiological  truths  is  as  nothing  compared  with  that  which  is  spent  in  relating 
pleasant  stories.  How  much  truth,  for  example,  would  be  required  to  neutralize 
facts  like  these  ?  "  That  whales  are  fat,  because  they  live  in  cold  latitudes"—"  that 
nature's  laws  of  compensation,  in  the  absence  of  fat  provide  abundance  of  hair,  and 
that,  therefore,  the  Russians  starve  their  hogs  that  they  may  bear  good  crops  of 
bristles"—"  that  certain  animals  possess  the  love  of  sentiment  as  well  as  the  instinct 
of  the  sexes"— that  in  some,  the  hog  for  example,  the  male  has  its  seasons,  but  the 
female  has  not"— all  which  interesting  truths,  aside  from  their  importance,  areas 
well  settled  as  that  the  most  meagre  sheep  always  has  the  best  fleece ! ! 


about  one  hundred,  of  whom  about  twenty-five  attend  his  lectures, 
because  they  cannot  be  permitted  to  graduate  unless  they  take  out  the 
tickets  fur  two  courses,  whether  they  attend  them  or  not  :  and  when  it 
is  considered  that  this  is  the  most  interesting  branch  of  study  taught 
in  a  medical  school,  the  simple  fact  that  not  more  than  one  quarter 
part  of  the  pupils  avail  themselves  of  the  lectures  delivered  by  the  pre- 
sident, is  a  mortifying  evidence  of  the  estimate  which  the  students  have 
formed,  both  of  them  and  him. 

As  the  Legislature  are  now  in  session,  and  the  Regents  of  the  Uni- 
versity are  required  by  law  to  meet  from  time  to  time  during  the  session 
for  the  purpose  of  supervising  the  concerns  of  all  the  literary  and 
scientific  institutions  in  the  state,  it  is  to  be  devoutly  wished  that  they 
will  take  early  notice  of  this  school,  in  order  that  if  changes  are 
necessary,  they  may  come  up  for  deliberation  before  the  adjournment. 
It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  every  body  should  be  impressed  with  the 
necessity  of  reform  in  this  institution,  except  the  Regents,  whose 
exclusive  duty  it  is  to  carry  out  all  reform  !  and  I  would  respectfully 
suggest  that  they  appoint  a  committee  to  visit  the  institution  as  soon  as 
the  navigation  opens,  that  there  may  be  time  for  their  report,  and  the 
action  it  may  suggest,  before  their  adjournment.  Any  attempt  to  pro- 
cure information  in  any  other  manner  than  by  a  committee  of  their 
own  body,  will  turn  out  to  be  idle  waste  of  time,  and  will  result  in 
nothing,  as  the  experience  of  the  last  winter  has  abundantly  proved. 

Gravioea  manent. 


No.  2. 


In  my  former  communication  I  said  that  it  was  devoutly  to  be  wished 
"  That  the  Regents  of  the  University  would  send  a  committee  to  visit 
the  institution,  and  report  in  time  for  such  action  as  the  report  of  that 
committee  shall  suggest."  1  now  propose  to  give  the  reason  for  this 
method  of  proceeding,  in  the  belief  that  no  other  means  of  arriving  at 
the  truth  will  serve  any  valuable  purpose.  The  institution  is  so  held 
in  thrall  by  its  president,  Dr.  Smith,  that  no  order  or  resolution  of 
their  board  will  reach  the  board  of  trustees,  or  the  board  of  professors, 
till  too  late  to  be  of  use.  On  a  late  occasion  the  Hon  Regents  sent 
to  enquire  whether  or  not  the  interests  of  the  college  would  not  be 
promoted  by  h  consolidation  of  some  of  the  courses  of  instruction  ;  the 
communication  came  to  the  Registrar,  (Dr.  Deering,)  and  of  course  was 
transmitted  to  the  president,  who  in  place  of  calling  a  meeting  of  the 
trustees  immediately,  and  consulting  the  professors  previous  to  the 


call,  waited  till  he  was  ready,  (about  three  weeks  afterward,)  and  when 
the  trustees  convened,  he  volunteered  a  report  on  this  subject,  mixed 
up  with  other  matters,  which  they  (the  trustees,)  laid  upon  the  table, 
by  a  decided  vote  ;  it  was  fair  to  presume,  therefore,  that  it  required 
further  consideration  before  any  final  action,  but  the  paper  which  he 
presented  was  never  afterward  found,  the  simple  truth  of  the  matter 
being  that  he  had  thrown  it  into  the  fire  as  soon  as  they  refused,  uncon- 
ditionally, to  accept  it !  He  was  soon  relieved,  however,  from  all 
anxiety  on  the  subject,  as  he  had  a  friend  at  hand  who  offered  a  reso- 
lution, believed  to  be  in  his  own  hand  writing,  viz  :  that  any  consoli- 
dation of  the  courses  of  instruction  was  inexpedient.  Now  we  ask  the 
medical  public  to  look  at  this  matter.  It  is  not  only  surmised,  but 
known  and  believed,  that  the  course  of  Physiology  is  and  has  been  so 
conducted  that  it  is  for  the  interest  of  the  college  that  it  should  be 
merged  in  some  other  professorship,  where  it  would  be  better  taught, 
and  with  less  charge  to  the  pupil  :  and  by  none  was  this  better  under, 
stood  than  by  the  gentleman  who  offered  the  resolution  ;  yet  by  a  little 
management  he  is  made  to  stand  god-father  to  a  resolution  which  his 
own  good  sense  and  his  conscience  condemn.  But  further,  the  reso- 
lution as  passed  by  the  Kegents  had  for  its  object  the  benefit  of  the 
school — it  came  from  a  highly  respectable  source,  a  source  from  which 
the  college  derives  all  its  power  and  privileges,  and  from  which  the 
president  himself,  by  a  strange  accident,  derived  his  office.*  Was  it 
not  reasonable  that  it  should  have  been  referred  ?  Was  it  not  reason- 
able that  the  professors  of  the  other  branches  of  instruction  should 

*  That  Dr.  Smith's  connection  with  the  college  was  accidental,  is  shown  by  the 
following  fact : — In  1826,  the  executive  committee  of  physicians  and  surgeons,  who 
had  been  instrumental  in  producing  the  college  reform,  directed  one  of  their  number 
to  invite  him  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  chair  of  anatomy  and  physiology  ;  upon 
the  receipt  of  the  letter  he  immediately  consented,  and  by  return  of  mail  his  answer 
was  received.  In  a  few  days,  afterward,  however,  several  of  the  committee  found 
that  they  had  committed  a  great  mistake,  since  he  was  believed  to  be  but  an  indif- 
ferent substitute  for  the  distinguished  professor  of  those  branches  (Dr.  Post,)  who  had 
just  resigned  :  and,  moreover,  was  believed  to  be  a  materialist.  Under  these  circum. 
stances  it  was  suggested  that  his  nomination  ought  to  be  opposed,  and  measures 
adopted  to  induce  Dr.  Post  to  return,  who  would  bring  with  him  an  able  dissector  in 
the  person  of  Dr.  Frederick  King  ;  this  last  measure  would  have  succeeded,  and  Dr. 
Smith  would  have  been  left,  to  use  his  own  language,  in  the  swamps  of  Virginia,  but 
for  the  active  and  zealous  opposition  of  Dr.  Manley,  who  held  it  to  be  disgraceful  to 
invite  a  gentleman  to  accept  a  situation,  and  having  secured  his  affirmative  answer, 
turn  round  and  interpose  every  obstacle  to  his  appointment.  It  was  a  great  error, 
notwithstanding  the  honesty  of  the  argument,  for  if  ever  there  had  occurred  a  case 
ia  which  the  consideration  of  consequences  should  have  settled  the  question  of  duty, 
this  was  one,  and  every  physician  in  New- York,  qualified  to  form  a  judgment,  is  now 
sensible  of  it. 


have  been  consulted  ?  Was  it  not  reasonable  that  it  should  have  been 
the  subject  of  deliberation,  and  that  the  result  to  which  the  trustees 
arrived  should  have  been  presented  to  the  Hon.  Regents,  with  the 
reasons  therefor  ?  To  these  several  enquiries  common  sense  and  com- 
mon  courtesy  answer  yes,  but  it  did  not  suit, — the  question  need  not 
be  deliberated  :  it  must  not  be  discussed  :  it  shall  not  be  debated  :  sic 
volo  said  the  President  ;  and  this  serious  resolution  of  the  Regents, 
one  of  which  had  for  its  object  the  vital  interests  of  the  school,  is  dis- 
posed of  without  even  the  formality  of  a  reference,  through  fear  that  a 
reference  would  elicit  unwelcome  truth.  Dr.  Smith  is  too  well  versed 
in  the  management  of  colleges  to  permit  discussion  on  subjects  which 
can  be  disposed  of  without  it :  and  a  reference  of  any  subject  to  a 
committee,  with  one  only  exception,  (questions  of  finance,)  is  so 
strange  in  that  board,  that  the  members  of  it  would  be  surprised  if  it 
was  suggested.  No  man  is  presumed  to  know  or  care  what  is  done, 
or  may  be  required,  except  himself;  he  never  brings  up  a  measure  till 
it  has  been  matured  outside ;  and  those  who  usually  vote  with  him  are 
as  ignorant  of  the  consequences  of  their  own  acts,  as  if  they  believed 
that  they  were  wholly  irresponsible. 

I  am  sorry  that  duty  obliges  me  to  speak  thus  plainly,  but  believing 
as  I  do  that  the  removal  of  Dr.  Smith  from  the  station  he  occupies  is  a 
sine  quanon  condition  of  the  restoration  of  public  confidence  and  pro- 
fessional  support  to  the  school  which  he  assumes  to  govern,  I  can  do 
no  less.  In  seaman's  phrase,  he  owns  a  timber  head  in  the  ship,  by 
virtue  of  a  bond  of  Bottomry,  in  the  shape  of  a  loan  of  85000,  and  he 
claims  and  has  heretofore  managed  to  control  the  interests  and  the 
reputation  of  every  man  who  has,  or  may  have  a  venture  on  board. 

Graviora  manent. 


No.  3. 
Tis  in  the  very  nature  of  corporations  to  degenerate  ;  the  Legisla- 
ture who  creates  them  always  intends  to  consult  the  public  interest, 
and  those  who  control  them  as  invariably  consult  their  own.  Literary 
institutions  having  corporate  powers  form  no  exceptions  to  this  rule. 
A  striking  illustration  of  this  truth  is  furnished  by  the  history  of  the 
college  of  physicians  and  surgeons  in  this  city.  Under  its  former 
administration  so  rapid  was  its  declension  from  the  great  platform  of 
principle  on  which  it  was  founded,  that  it  became  a  private  school, 
owned  and  governed  by  the  professors,  who  monopolized  all  the  private 
as  well  as  the  public  teaching  in  this  city.     The  appointments  to  the 


8 

chairs  were  considered  to  be  capital  furnished  by  the  public,  from 
which  each  man  derived  a  revenue  proportioned  to  his  influence  among 
his  fellows.  So  glaring  and  obtrusive  did  these  abuses  become,  that 
the  medical  profession  with  unparalled  unanimity  agreed  to  bring  the 
college  to  a  severe  account.  They  did  so.  The  controversy  lasted 
six  years,  and  at  last,  in  order  to  intimidate  the  Regents,  the  profes- 
sors, who  it  appears  had  formed  with  each  other  an  alliance  offensive 
and  defensive,  hit  on  the  notable  expedient  of  resigning  their  commis- 
sions in  a  body,  in  the  belief  that  the  school  without  them  could  not 
exist,  or  at  the  least,  that  the  Regents  could  be  induced  to  think  so,  in 
which  event  they  would  not  accept  their  resignations,  and  might  be 
disposed  to  dismiss  the  complaints  and  the  controversy  to  which  they 
had  given  occasion.  But  in  this  they  were  disappointed  !  Their 
resignations  were  all  accepted  ;  and  thus,  what  was  only  intended  to 
operate  a  wholesome  reform  resulted  in  a  complete  revolution  of  the 
college.  Not  one  of  them  was  invited  back,  and  it  became  necessary 
to  fill  all  the  chairs.  In  this  emergency  attention  was  by  chance 
directed  to  John  Augustine  Smith,  then  the  president  of  William  and 
Mary  College,  who  had  some  reputation,  and  when  a  young  man  had 
lectured  in  the  same  school  as  adjunct  to  Dr.  Post.  He  was  accord- 
ingly invited  to  accept  the  nomination  to  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  to 
which  he  readily  assented,  because,  among  other  reasons,  he  had  a  con- 
troversy then  on  hand  in  his  own  college,  which,  judging  from  the 
temper  of  the  disputants  as  manifested  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Dele- 
gates did  not  auger  the  most  agreeable  results  for  him.  He  was 
appointed  without  serious  opposition,  and  he  received  a  credit  in 
advance  for  talents  as  a  scholar,  and  qualities  as  a  teacher,  which 
remains  open  to  this  hour  :  anticipation  has  not  been  realized.  The 
Chair  was  not  as  abiy  filled  as  had  been  expected,  and  as  his  friends 
desired  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  the  interests  of  the  college  required 
that  he  should  give  place  to  one  better  qualified  ;  he  was  accordingly 
transferred,  and  Dr.  Rhinelander  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  The 
place  he  now  holds,  as  Professor,  is  perhaps  better  calculated  than  any 
other  to  display  all  the  varied  stores  of  a  well  furnished  mind  ;  in  place 
of  which,  the  exhibition  is  like  that  of  a  pawnbroker's  shop,  where 
every  thing  presented  is  out  of  fashion,  old  or  useless,  but  all  worn 
before.  The  stories,  which  make  up  three-fourths  of  the  lectures, 
would  be  amusing  if  they  had  not  been  so  often  repeated  ;  they  fall 
upon  the  ear  of  the  student  in  his  second  term  as  stale  anecdotes,  and 
if  he  has  ever  in  his  boyhood  read  Goldsmith's  inimitable  novel  of  the 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,  his  memory  will  not  fail  to  call  up  the  character 
of  Jenkinson,  whom  the  good  Mr.  Primrose  prevented  from  inflicting 
upon  his  audience  a  new  edition  of  his  cosmogony.  When  Dr.  Smith  was 


9 

transposed,  or  deposed  from  the  chair  which  for  years  he  had  occupied, 
it  was  no  doubt  done  for  the  best,  and  he  acquiesced,  from  necessity, 
as  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  when  it  became  vacant  by  resignation  a 
few  years  afterward,  he  did  not  attempt  to  reclaim  it,  knowing  that 
any  effort  of  the  kind,  after  the  experience  of  his  former  failure, 
would  prove  abortive.  The  presidency,  in  connection  with  physiology, 
seemed  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  his  aspiration,  and  he  no  doubt  con- 
eluded  to  console  himself  with  the  possession  of  a  power,  which,  if  he 
could  not  command,  would  enable  him  to  enforce  respect.  He  holds 
the  doctrine  that  a  president  ought  of  right  to  control  the  institution 
over  which  he  presides  ;  and  although  this  cherished  dogma  was  sig- 
nally rebuked  by  the  Virginians,  when  he  was  in  William  and  Mary,  he 
still  persists  to  maintain  it,  and  to  a  certain  extent  he  has  succeeded. 

Whether  peaceful  possession  of  all  the  powers  of  the  college  in  the 
shape  of  an  Autocracy,  can  be  secured  to  him  or  not,  the  Hon.  Regents 
will  determine. 

In  my  next  I  propose  to  look  into  William  and  Mary,  when  I  may 
be  able  to  show  the  causes  of  its  declension  under  an  autrocratic 
administration. 

Graviora  manent. 


No.  4. 

In  my  last  I  promised  to  look  into  William  and  Mary  College,  and  I 
proceed  to  give  a  small  portion  of  its  history,  which  is  calculated  to 
teach  an  important  lesson  to  those  who  are  by  law  made  the  guardians 
of  our  literary  institutions.  It  is  impossible  that  the  facts  disclosed 
(to  them  for  the  first  time,)  can  be  viewed  with  indifference,  since  the 
circumstances  in  which  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  is 
now  placed  correspond  so  nearly  with  those  which  almost  ruined  it, 
I  know  it  is  industriously  circulated  that  the  cause  of  Dr.  Smith  is  the 
cause  of  the  college  :  and  if  this  be  true  it  can  be  considered  only  as  a 
misfortune  which  must  be  repaired  speedily,  if  repaired  at  all  ;  but  it 
is  far  otherwise.  Those  best  acquainted  with  the  interests  of  medical 
education  know,  and  if  asked  ihey  will  say,  that  the  college  would  be 
as  much  relieved  by  his  retreat  from  it  in  both  the  capacities  in  which 
he  is  now  attached,  as  was  that  of  William  and  Mary  when  he  found  it 
convenient  to  resign  his  office  of  President. 

We  gathered  from  the  petitions,  remonstrances,  and  public  speeches 
made  in  the  House  of  Delegates  of  Virginia,  in  the  winter  of  1824-5 
that  dissention  existed  in  the  college  in  consequence  of  an  attempt  of 
a  professor  to  exact   the   fees  of  a  full   course  when  he  had  only 


10 

officiated  for  the  half  of  (he  term,  or  had  received  his  appointment  so 
late  that  lie  could  do  no  more  :  that  the  students  resisted  this  exaction, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  controversy  they  were  represented  to  have 
been  contumacious,  and  were  required  to  make  the  amende  honorable 
to  the  professor  whom  their  language  had  offended,  on  pain  of  expul- 
sion from  the  college  :  they  preferred  the  alternative  rather  than  dis- 
grace themselves;  and  that  as  a  wholesome  exercise  of  discipline, 
twenty.nine  young  men  were  dismissed  from  the  institution  !  We  learn 
further,  that  for  three  consecutive  years,  the  president  had  never  called 
the  trustees  or  visitors  together;  and  that  the  entire  management  of 
the  institution  was  left  to  the  control  of  its  professors,  who  were  ever 
jarring;  or  to  the  control  of  its  highly  censurable  president,  (Dr. 
Smith.)  That  from  the  year  1817,  when  his  administration  was  but 
three  years  old,  the  college  began  to  decline  :  and  that  so  rapid  was 
the  declension,  that  its  numbers  were  reduced  in  the  last  seven  years 
of  his  presidency  from  95  to  83. 

The  causes  of  the  defection  of  the  pupils,  and  the  diminution  of  their 
number,  appear  to  have  been  well  understood  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Williamsburgh,  and  they  were  fully  developed  in  the  public  speeches  of 
members  of  the  House  of  Delegates  ;  but  the  president  had  the  tact  to 
perceive,  that  if  he  could  create  a  new  excitement  on  a  new  subject, 
the  real  causes  ot  the  consumption  under  which  the  college  labored 
might  be  overlooked  in  comparison  of  the  specious  ones  which  he 
could  present  ;  and  he  with  his  friends  petitioned  the  Legislature  to 
remove  the  college  to  a  more  favorable  part  of  the  country,  alleging 
as  reasons  therefor,  the  unheal thfulness  of  the  present  site  :  the  loca- 
tion of  other  schools  in  its  neighborhood,  which  diminished  the  wonted 
supply  of  pupils,  &c.  &c.  But  to  all  this  the  remonstrants  answered 
that  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  pupils  was  justly  chargeable  to  its 
maladministration,  and  they  showed  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Legisla. 
ture,  as  the  event  proved,  that  it  was  so.  In  this  controversy,  or  rather 
trial  of  Dr.  Smith,  for  such  it  in  fact  was,  he  was  allowed  to  be  heard 
at  the  bar  of  the  house,  and  he  gave  his  reasons  for  the  removal  of  the 
college,  but  all  would   not  avail  ;*  the  Virginia  legislature    decided 

*  Dr.  Smith  seems  to  be  particularly  fond  of  exhibiting  himself  before  public 
bodies,  a  failing,  by  the  way,  which  is  the  natural  result  of  his  indomitable  vanity. 
He  believes  that  nothing  in  which  he  is  interested  can  be  well  done,  unless  he  does 
it.  He  was  an  assistant  alderman  of  the  3d  Ward  of  this  city,  some  years  ago,  and 
on  a  certain  occasion  he  attempted  to  inflict  some  punishment  on  his  associates  at  a 
meeting  of  the  corporation,  in  the  shape  of  a  studied  speech,  which  they,  very 
incourteously  no  doubt,  refused  to  hear  ;  when  he  became  very  indignant,  and  char- 
ged them  with  a  want  of  taste  or  lack  of  judgment,  by  way  of  retaliation  for  the 
insult.  On  a  late  occasion  he  applied  to  be  heard  before  the  board  of  Regents,  and 
the  privilege   was   accorded  :  when  he  took  occasion  to  say  all  "  manner  of  evil 


11 

against  the  petition,  and  the  college  remains  where  it  has  been  since 
the  year  1693,  all  Dr.  Smith's  reasons  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding, 
viz  :  swamps,  bad  climate,  unhealthfulness,  and  rival  colleges  in  the 
neighborhood  !  The  simple  truth  was,  that  the  petition  for  its  removal 
was  one  of  the  expedients  to  avoid  the  odium  which  was  due,  and  did 
attach  to  its  administration,  and  the  public  knew  it.  I  regret  that  I 
cannot  transcribe  more  extracts  from  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Tyler  and 
Mr.  Jones,  who  took  the  side  of  the  remonstrants  against  the  petition 
for  removal,  but  it  is  sufficient  for  my  present  purpose  to  remark  that 
the  facts  and  arguments  which  they  urged  were  deemed  conclusive, 
Mr.  Jones  said,  «  It  is  known  that  the  President  of  William  and  Mary 
denies  the  right  of  instruction,  and  has  denounced  liberty  and  equality 
as  a  dream.  And  it  is  said,  reported  and  believed,  that  this  same  Pre- 
sident is  a  Deist.  Whether  the  fact  be  so  or  not,  I  know  not,  and  I 
care  not,  but  of  this  I  am  satisfied,  that  the  report,  whether  true  or 
false,  has  served  materially  to  depress  the  college."  The  charges  thus 
publicly  reported  remain  still  uncontradicted.  Mr.  Tyler,  in  his  speech 
says,  "  Can  any  man  doubt  but  that  much  of  the  decline  is  owing  to 
the  cruel,  I  was  going  to  say  tyrannical  system  of  what  is  called  disci- 
pline, exerted  over  the  young  men  ?"  The  cause  of  the  trouble  was 
exaction  of  fees  !  !  and  the  cause  of  almost  all  trouble  in  colleges  is  of 
a  kindred  character.*     It  was  this  which  first  attracted  the  attention  of 

thing's,"  in  his  own  peculiar  way,  and  to  depreciate  the  character  and  acquirements 
of  an  absent  man,  whose  only  offence  was  that  he  would  not  consent  to  be  indebted 
to  his  influence  for  the  station  he  had  occupied  as  a  lecturer  in  the  college.  So 
unusual  was  such  an  exhibition  before  that  board,  and  withal  so  disgusting  to  some 
of  the  members,  that  there  is  little  danger  of  his  having  an  opportunity  to  repeat  it. 

*  The  course  of  Physiology  in  all  medical  colleges  in  this  country  is  connected 
with  Anatomy,  and  it  is  very  proper  that  it  should  be  ;  the  demonstration  of  the  struc- 
tures of  the  human  body  belong  to  the  one,  and  their  uses  or  functions  to  the  other  ; 
he,  therefore,  who  is  an  incompetent  anatomist  cannot  be  a  well  qualified  physiolo- 
gist. When  Dr.  Smith  was  removed  from  the  chair  of  anatomy,  and  Dr.  Rhine- 
lander  appointed  in  his  place,  as  no  cause  then  existed  for  the  exercise  of  severity, 
but  rather  regret  for  its  necessity  ;  a  new  chair  was  made  as  a  kind  of  cushion  to 
break  his  fall,  and  the  ticket  for  the  course  fixed  at  $14.  He  lectures,  if  lecturing 
it  may  be  called,  twice  a  week,  and  is  perfectly  satisfied  to  receive  the  fee,  without 
caring  whether  the  student  has  value  for  it  or  not.  Amusement  seems  to  be  the 
object,  and  in  good  sooth,  if  such  a  professorship  was  necessary  for  the  recreation  of 
the  pupils,  there  are  perhaps  few  men  in  our  profession  who  would  be  better  qua- 
lified, if  he  would  generalize  less,  and  look  more  attentively  to  the  accuracy  of  his 
facts.  As  the  case  now  stands  his  fee  has  the  character  of  an  exaction,  and  is  much 
too  high,  since  a  larger  amount  of  information,  and  much  more  satisfaction,  may  be 
had  at  Peale's  museum  every  evening  during  the  winter,  at  a  much  less  price.  It 
is  a  misfortune  that  his  course  is  sub- graduate,  for  every  student,  before  he  presents 
himself  for  examination,  must,  if  educated  in  this  college,  pay  for  this  ticket  twice 
which  by  some  is  justly  considered  a  great  hardship. 


12 

the  public  to  the  admistration  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, in  1819,  and  it  is  this  which  now  in  some  degree  accounts  for 
the  depression  of  it.  Nothing  is  so  well  calculated  to  mar  the  interests 
of  a  college,  as  the  exaction  of  fees  of  instruction  where  no  instruction 
is  communicated  ;  and  nothing  more  is  required  to  render  an  institution 
popular,  than  just  dealing  with  the  pupils  ;  it  is  all  they  ask  ;  but  as 
regards  the  branch  which  the  president  teaches,  like  that  which  he  has 
heretofore  taught,  they  have  asked  in  vain  till  now,  and  whether  even 
now  (hey  shall  have  relief  by  a  consolidation  of  the  course  of  Phy- 
siology with  Anatomy  depends  more  upon  themselves,  than  the  inte- 
rested influence  of  him  who  receives  the  fee.  But  to  return  to  William 
and  Mary.  In  a  single  sentence  I  will  add  that  in  despite  of  the  ope- 
ration of  the  causes  which  were  urged  for  its  removal,  it  is  now  in  a 
more  flourishing  condition  than  it  ever  was  before,  and  that  its  number 
of  students  is  more  than  double  that  which  it  boasted  in  the  most  palmy 
days  of  its  late  president.  The  continued  increment  of  the  number 
since  his  departure,  is  an  interesting  comment  on  his  former  adminis- 
tration, which  I  trust  will  not  fail  of  its  influence  on  the  Hon. 
Regents. 

Graviora  manent. 


No.  5. 


In  my  last,  I  took  occasion  to  look  into  the  history  of  William  and 
Mary  College,  in  order  to  show  the  benefits  of  an  Autocratic  admin- 
istration ;  and  as  the  same  causes  may  be  expected  to  be  attended  with 
the  same  results,  I  hope  that  the  lesson  will  not  be  lost.  It  is  one  of 
the  axioms  of  natural  philosophy,  that  "  more  causes  should  not  be 
adduced  in  explanation  of  a  phenomenon,  than  being  true,  are  suffi- 
cient  to  explain  it."  However  true  this  may  be  in  physics,  it  is  far 
otherwise  in  morals,  politics,  and  medical  polemics  ;  there  is  generally 
so  much  room  for  evasion,  and  so  many  incidents  upon  which  to  hang 
feigned  issues,  that  a  small  measure  of  ingenuity,  without  a  due  pro- 
portion  of  moral,  will  contrive  to  impose  upon  the  common  sense  of 
well  intentioned  men,  and  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason. 
This  was  emphatically  true  in  the  case  of  William  and  Mary,  and  any 
other  reason,  but  the  true  one,  was  assigned  for  its  sickly  condition, 
when  under  the  treatment  of  Dr.  John  Augustine  Smith.  The  same 
management  may  be  expected  to  be  resorted  to,  in  order  to  explain 
the  condition  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  ;  we  may 
expect  to  hear  that  it  has  not  the  cordial  support  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession  ;  and  this  is  true ;  but  the  why  1  will  be  omitted  in  the  expla- 


13 

nation.  We  shall  hear  nothing  through  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  defi. 
cient  courses  of  instruction  ;  nothing  of  the  course  of  Physiology,  as 
being  the  standing  jest  of  every  medical  man  who  has  heard  the  lec- 
tures, whether  pupil  or  professor  ;  nothing  of  the  arrogance,  vanity, 
and  egotism  of  the  lecturer,  who  is  always  more  intent  on  making  a 
display  of  himself,  than  of  his  subject ;  but  in  place  of  these  :  intelli- 
gence, zeal,  ability,  industry,  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  medical 
instruction,  will  be  in  the  gross,  accorded  to  the  professors,  and  will 
be  written,  as  usual,  by  the  President  himself.  Is  it  any  wonder,  that 
under  management  like  this,  the  college  does  not  flourish  ?  Is  it  not 
more  a  wonder  that  it  exists  at  all  ?  The  Presidents  of  colleges,  for 
the  most  part,  are  selected  for  their  moral  and  intellectual  acquire- 
ment ;  they  are  presumed  to  be  good  as  well  as  great,  and  their  charac- 
ters being  such,  the  institutions  over  which  they  preside,  borrow,  so  to 
say,  a  revenue  of  reputation  from  their  personal  merits  ;  but  it  is  far 
otherwise  when  the  president  of  a  college  derives  all  the  reputation  he 
owns  from  the  station  he  occupies  ;  and  when  this  borrowing  has  con- 
tinued for  ten  years,  without  any  ability  to  cancel  or  diminish  the  debt 
as  in  the  present  instance,  surely  the  apprehension  is  not  unreasonable 
that  both  the  debtor  and  creditor  will  be  declared  bankrupt!  An  arti- 
ficial reputation,  like  copper-washed  coin,  although  it  may  pass  cur- 
rent for  a  season,  will  finally  discover  its  own  counterfeit ;  detection 
is  never  difficult ;  it  is  a  spontaneous  process,  which  cannot  be  arrested 
while  it  is  allowed  to  circulate  ;  and  soon  as  discovered,  it  is  of  less 
value,  even  as  base  metal,  than  if  never  used  for  purposes  of  fraud.  It 
is  to  prevent  the  inevitable  result  of  detected  deceit,  that  I  write  these 
papers  :  no  man  will  do  more  to  support  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  than  Graviora  manent,  but  he  knows  that  all  exertion  is 
vain,  so  long  as  base  metal  passes  for  sterling  silver  ;  the  incorruptible 
moral,  the  well  educated  mind,  the  kind  and  conciliating  conduct,  which, 
if  it  could  not  command  respect  can  solicit  it,  are  all  minus  qualities 
in  the  character  of  the  present  incumbent.  He  is  remarkable  only 
for  management,  and  this  is  a  quality  more  calculated  to  disgust  than 
to  attract  students.  Those  who  are  associated  with  him  as  profes- 
sors know  and  feel  that  he  is  an  incumbrance  to  the  institution,  and 
the  very  man  who  presented  to  the  board  of  trustees  that  extraordinary 
resolution,  "that  any  consolidation  of  the  courses  of  instruction  was  inex- 
pedient," was  among  the  first,  years  ago,  to  declare  it.  I  am  sorry  for 
the  necessity  imposed  of  speaking  thus  plainly,  but  it  i3  truth,  and  the 
Hon.  Regents  ought  to  know  it.  If  Dr.  Smith  or  any  of  his  apologists 
are  offended  by  the  exhibition,  let  them  show  it  to  be  deceptive.  My 
solemn  conviction  is,  that  nothing  less  than  his  retreat  from  the  col- 
lege will  be  followed  by  any  beneficial  consequence.     In  truth  it  needs 


14 

but  little  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  the  most  respectable 
institutions  in  the  country.  An  opinion  has  gone  abroad  that  medi- 
cal men  are  querulous — that  they  are  always  differing  ;  and  to  such  an 
extent  has  this  opinion  affected  the  community,  that  Regents  them- 
selves hate  thought  that  they  could  not  control  their  own  schools  of 
instruction  ;  and  what  has  been  the  consequence  ?  "Why,  they  have 
been  controlled  by  one  man,  (which  is  certainly  true  in  the  instance 
of  which  we  speak,  and  likely  to  be  true  of  every  other  if  the  same 
opinion  prevails.)  who  by  a  little  cunning  simply  convenes  his  trustees 
to  register  his  will.  Hitherto  I  have  spoken  only  of  his  capacity  as  a 
teacher,  and  the  opinions  I  have  given  will  be  endorsed  by  every  one 
connected  with  the  college  who  is  capable  of  balancing  evidence  ;  and 
I  invite  him  to  try  the  question  by  demanding  a  scrutiny :  he  has  only 
to  ask  for  it,  and  he  will  be  accommodated.  In  my  next,  I  will  exa- 
mine his  conduct  as  President  in  its  moral  aspect. 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  in  a  school  composed  of  young  men 
just  entering  on  the  busy  scenes  of  life,  and  who  are  not  by  necessity 
subjected  to  any  moral  discipline,  whether  the  examples  set  them  by  their 
teachers  are  worthy  of  their  imitation  or  not ;  the  conduct  of  those 
whom  as  teachers  they  ought  to  respect,  will  by  necessity  measurably 
control  their  own  ;  and,  indeed,  oftentimes  without  their  consciousness 
of  its  influence.  Stern  integrity,  therefore,  candor,  liberality  and 
ingenuousness,  should  always  mark  the  character  of  a  public  teacher  ; 
duty  to  the  pupil  ought  never  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  gratification  of 
personal  vanity  ;  and  least  of  all  should  the  station  which  the  profes- 
sor occupies  be  prostituted  to  the  base  purpose  of  personal  scandal. 

Graviora  manent. 


No.  6. 
As  this  institution  is  at  the  present  session  of  the  Legislature 
petitioning  for  pecuniary  relief,  it  is  a  point  worthy  of  some  consider- 
ation whether  relief  of  any  kind  can  be  of  any  service  so  long  as  it  is 
conducted  on  its  present  plan.  The  rules  for  its  government  are  suffi- 
ciently explicit,  and  as  unexceptionable,  perhaps,  as  those  of  most 
medical  colleges  :  but  the  misfortune  is  that  they  are  rendered  nugatory 
by  the  contrivance  of  its  president,  and  unless  some  wholesome  restraint 
be  laid  upon  its  administration,  no  legislative  aid  can  serve  any  other 
purpose  than  to  perpetuate  its  abuses.  We  have  seen  how  the  board 
of  trustees  is  constituted  ;  we  have  seen  how  that  board  may,  in  tact, 
be  packed  to  serve  the  purposes  of  the  president,  without  the  most  dis- 
tant apprehension  of  the  appointing  power  (the  Regents,)  that  they  are 


15 

so  used  ;  we  do  know  that  the  president  hns  long  been  in  the  habit  of 
privatelv  suggesting  proper  persons  !  to  fill  its  vacancies  ;  and  that  so 
successful  has  been  this  management,  that  upon  a  question  which  he 
was  particularly  interested  to  carry,  his  estimated  majority  included 
the  names  of  persons  suggested  by  himself,  some  of  whom  had  not  been, 
but  were  expected  to  be  appointed  !  !*  And  with  facts  like  these  standing 
out  in  bold  relief,  has  the  public  any  right  to  expect  a  just,  equitable, 
and  intelligent  administration  of  its  concerns  ?  I  do  not  now  speak 
of  its  financial  management  ;  that  will  be  taken  care  of,  probably, 
under  any  circumstances,  but  of  those  highly  responsible  and  interest- 
ing duties  to  which  all  others  are  subsidiary.  The  selection  of  teach- 
ers, the  recommendation  of  professors,  the  supervision  of  the  courses  of 
instruction,  are  matters  too  important  to  be  left  to  the  direction  of  one 
man,  and  that  man  known  to  be  incompetent  to  fulfil  his  own  engage- 
ments to  the  public  as  a  professor.  Are  the  public  prepared  to  accord 
to  him  the  right  of  appointing  lecturers,  and,  in  truth,  professors  also, 
and  of  dismissing  them  when  he  pleases  ?  There  are  some  disgraceful 
facts  of  this  character,  justly  chargeable  to  Dr.  Smith,  which  the  pro- 
fession ought  to  know  before  they  place  the  college  in  the  condition  of 
a  private  school. 

In  the  year  1837,  Dr.  Amariah  Brigham,  of  Hartford,  a  gentleman 
of  talent,  moral,  and  professional  acquirement,  which  will  compare  very 
favorably  with  those  of  Dr.  Smith  himself,  was  invited  by  the  trustees 
to  take  the  place  of  Lecturer  on  anatomy,  the  place  from  which  he 
(Smith)  was  ejected,  when  he  was  superseded  by  Dr.  Rhinelander  :  he 
accepted  the  appointment  and  lectured  one  term,  at  the  end  of  which 
he  resigned!  In  the  year  1837  Dr.  Alban  G.  Smith  was  appointed  by 
the  Regents  the  professor  of  Surgery  ;  he  had  held  a  similar  chair  in 
the  medical  college  of  Cincinnati ;  he  accepted,  and  moved  to  this  city* 
and  lectured  only  two  terms,  at  the  end  of  which  he  resigned  !  And 
Dr.  John  Augustine  Smith  knows  that  these  resignations,  although 
unexpected,  were  voluntary.  We  would  be  glad  to  be  informed,  how- 
ever, of  the  agency  through  which  these  resignations  were  effected ; 
we  should  be  pleased  to  know  whether  the  trustees,  in  the  one  case,  or 
the  regents  of  the  University  in  the  other,  were  ever  informed  of  either 
till  asked  to  act  upon  the  appointment  of  their  successors  ;  and  we 
would  be  pleased  to  be  corrected,  if  we  are  wrong  in  our  information, 

*  Graviora  manent  has  in  his  possession  a  curiosity  of  this  kind,  in  Dr.  Smith's 
own  hand  writing :  it  is  a  statement  of  the  names  and  number  of  the  trustees,  in 
separate  columns,  under  the  heads  of  aye  and  no ;  this  paper  contains  the  names  of 
two  persons,  neither  of  whom  were  trustees  at  the  time  the  calculation  was  made, 
and  one  of  whom  has  not  yet  been  appointed  a  trustee.  It  is  written  in  pencil  mark» 
and  therefore  cannot  be  transferred. 


that  he  was  agent  himself,     it  he  bad  an  auxiliary  in  this  unrighteous 
persecution,  and  I  am  told  tl  i  will  he  break  silence  and  give 

the  public  the  name  of  his  a*  fo  1839,  the  trustees  of  the  col- 

lege,  without  any  solicitation,  appointed  Dr.  Manley  of  this  city,  lec- 
turer on  Obstetrics,  in  the  place  of  Dr.  Delafield,  resigned  ;  he  lectured 
one  term,  and  at  the  end  of  it  h<  did  not  resign.  The  agency  of  Dr. 
Smith,  and  his  associate,  would  1  ve  been  of  no  use,  it  therefore  was 
not  volunteered  ;  but  a  systematic  plan  of  operation  was  devised  by  him, 
and  carried  out  through  the  agency  of  some  of  his  party,  in  the  board 
of  trustees,  which,  when  opened  up  and  fully  understood,  will  astonish 
by  its  baseness.  Here  we  have  three  incidents  in  close  sequence,  in 
which  Dr.  John  Augustine  Smith's  management  is  apparent  as  the 
noon  day  ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  he  has  by  common  consent 
been  for  years  considered  the  dead  weight  which  the  college  has  been 
obliged  to  sustain,  the  history  of  them  almost  assumes  the  character  of 
fable. 

It  may  be  stated,  without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that 
no  man  who  was  ever  honored  with  the  title  of  Professor  in  any  college 
ever  succeeded  better  in  converting  a  lecture  room  for  instruction  into 
a  theatre  of  mere  amusement  for  the  idle  student ;  the  by-play  and 
digressive  anecdote,  which  occupy  four-fifths  of  the  time,  are  permitted 
to  absorb  all  the  interest  which  ought  to  attach  to  the  importance  of 
Physiology ;  and  the  student  if  he  receive  value  of  any  kind  for  his 
money,  receives  it  in  any  thing  but  instruction.  The  pupils  are  indu- 
ced, when  the  stories  are  twice  told,  to  laugh  by  courtesy,  for  in  that 
indeed  they  may  claim  to  rival  their  Professor,  who  always  sets  the 
example  ;  but  except  as  a  recreation  from  severe  study,  the  course  of 
lectures,  as  conducted,  is  utterly  useless,  if  not  injurious.* 

Graviora  manent  cannot  remove  Dr.  Smith  from  the  place  he  occu- 
pies, but  he  intends  to  leave  those  without  apology,  who  have  the 
power  to  do  it,  and  will  not  exercise  it.  A  professor  without  talent, 
and  a  president  whose  conduct  displays,  to  say  the  least,  a  very  equivo- 
cal measure  of  morals,  can  hardly  be  the  man  to  reflect  character  on 
the  medical  profession,  or  credit  on  the  institution. 

Graviora  manent. 

*  If  John  Augustine  Smith's  chair  was  an  honorary  one,  or  if  the  student  who 
wished  to  graduate  was  not  obliged  to  purchase  the  ticket,  there  would  be  much  less 
dissatisfaction  in  the  school ;  the  attendance  would  then  be  voluntary,  in  place  of 
being,  as  now,  constrained  ;  those  would  join  his  class  who  could  well  afford  it,  and 
if  they  were  not  instructed  in  physiology,  they  might  occasionally  be  amused  by  his 
metaphysics.  In  such  a  condition  of  the  chair,  the  revenue  to  be  derived  from  it 
would  be  a  revenue  of  reputation  only  ;  and  although  that  might  be  small,  it  would 
not  materially  affect  the  interests  of  the  college,  if  he  was  satisfied  with  its  amount. 


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nils  it 

j  A 

APS  1  3  1961 

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C28(842)M5 

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